


Did You Have a Nice Trip?

by Gobayern16



Series: Star Wars Whumptober 2020 [12]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Broken Bones, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Falling Down Stairs, Family, Fox’s Potty Mouth, Hurt/Comfort, Modern AU, Podfic Welcome, Squad Edee, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26972890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gobayern16/pseuds/Gobayern16
Summary: “Oof!” Fox staggers, arms windmilling, trying to keep his balance. Gravity wins out, sending him stumbling backwards. He misses a step, foot landing on the next one down -- right on top of the disassembled roomba.
Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox & CC-1004 | Gree, CC-1010 | Fox & CC-8826 | Neyo, Colt & CC-1004 | Gree, Colt & CC-1010 | Fox, Colt & CC-8826 | Neyo
Series: Star Wars Whumptober 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948018
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59
Collections: Commander Fox, SquadEdee





	Did You Have a Nice Trip?

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Whumptober Prompt #12: I think I’ve broken something - Broken Bones
> 
> Colt, Fox, Neyo, and Gree are brothers. Colt is the oldest, about ~25, Fox is ~20, Neyo ~17, and Gree ~14.
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful RogueLadyVader for beta-ing!

Fox lets loose a blistering string of curses that would put a sailor to shame and hops on one foot, keeping pressure off his injured limb.

"Gree!" He bellows irately. "For fuck’s sake, don't leave your shit laying around!"

"Language, Fox!" Colt scolds, sticking his head out of the kitchen. He takes in Fox's murderous scowl and the pile of disassembled electronics that was once a roomba at his feet. He sighs.

"I'll talk to him."

"You'd better," Fox grumbles darkly. At Colt’s stern look, he subsides. Picking his steps carefully, Fox crosses the living room towards the stairs.

"Dinner’s in an hour!" Fox waves a hand acknowledging Colt’s words. He bounds up the stairs to his room, door slamming shut in his wake. 

**************************

“Dinner!”

Colt’s shout jolts Fox from his studying. He marks his spot in the textbook, pleased to see he only has a couple pages left to read. He stretches, wincing as his back cracks, before leaving his room and heading downstairs.

Disaster strikes four steps from the bottom.

Gree and Neyo’s voices precede them, bickering about something. They thump down the stairs pushing and shoving each other.

Fox turns, intending to tell them to settle down, when someone slams into him.

“Oof!” Fox staggers, arms windmilling, trying to keep his balance. Gravity wins out, sending him stumbling backwards. He misses a step, foot landing on the next one down -- right on top of the disassembled roomba.

Fox cries out in pain and surprise, leg buckling, tumbling down the last few steps. The floor rushes up to meet him. He instinctively throws his hands up to stop his fall. His full weight lands on his left arm, the wrist giving with a loud  _ CRACK! _ His head smacks into the ground, stunning him. 

Fox lays there in a crumpled heap, ears ringing, world muffled and fuzzy. Pain explodes from his wrist, the broken limb throbbing in time with his heartbeat. He curls around the injured limb, moaning, pain-induced tears welling in his eyes.

“Fox! Are you --”

“-- sorry! I didn’t mean --”

“What is going on?” Colt barks, the ruckus pulling him from the kitchen. He surveys the scene. One brother curled up in obvious agony. One with hunched shoulders and a guilty face. One defiantly meeting his eyes.

“Well?” Colt asks, hurrying to Fox.

“Neyo pushed me into Fox!” Gree bursts out. “He lost his balance and…” he fidgets. “Stepped on the roomba.” He finishes, shamefaced.

“I see.” Colt hums, noncommittal. He coaxes Fox into sitting up, hissing as he catches sight of the swelling and most likely broken wrist. His concern mounts when Fox blinks at him with glazed eyes, cheekbone already bruising.

"Gree, get us shoes and an ice pack. Neyo, my wallet and car keys." His brothers hurry off while Colt stays with Fox, bracing him to keep him upright.

"Fox? You with me?” 

"Hurts," Fox slurs, sniffling. He hugs his injured arm to his chest. Gree returns then with their shoes: sneakers for Colt and slip-ons for Fox. Colt nods in thanks, helping Fox with his first. Neyo comes back with the keys and wallet just as Gree brings the ice and two towels.

"You can use it to make a sling," Gree says quietly, offering Colt one of the towels.

"Good idea." Colt maneuvers the towel under Fox's arm, murmuring apologies when he jostles it. Colt knows Fox probably has a concussion and is in a lot of pain but his docility still unnerves him.

"Right. Neyo, help me get him up and to the car. Gently." They grab Fox, lifting on the count of three. 

Fox moans, head spinning with pain at the change in elevation. He swallows harshly to keep the nausea at bay, body swaying alarmingly. Once he's as steady as can be, the trio move towards the car. Every step sends shards of agony down his arm, lightning bolts through his skull. He whimpers.

Colt’s heart aches at the sounds of pain from his normally stoic brother. The obvious emotion bumps his thoughts from ‘probably’ to ‘definitely’ a concussion.

Gree darts ahead to open doors for them, watching them with big eyes, teeth worrying his lip. Clearly feeling guilty and worried about Fox

Colt will have to reassure him later; he can only deal with one struggling brother at a time. And right now he needs all his energy for Fox.

Fox safely ensconced in the passenger seat, Colt turns to the others.

"Dinner's on the stove. Put away what you don't eat. I don't know how long this will take, so don't wait up for us.” Colt doesn't wait for their nods. He gets in, glancing over at Fox. He's got his eyes closed, head resting against the window, mouth set in a tense line. 

The drive to the ER is uneventful. Colt even manages to snag a parking spot right by the door. But their luck ends there.

Colt parks Fox in the closest chair, then goes to the desk to check him in.

"Is it a life-threatening injury?" 

A chill of foreboding shivers down his spine. 

"No? My brother's got a broken wrist and probably a concussion." Colt’s heart sinks at the nurse’s regretful look.

“I'm sorry, but it's going to be awhile. We just received six patients from a car accident."

Colt sighs at her sympathetic tone.. "I understand." He fills out the required forms before returning to Fox.

He cracks an eye open. "You look gloomy. Pretty girl turn you down?"

Colt snorts, glad to see Fox has regained some of his composure. "No. Nurse said it'll be a bit. Bunch of car accident victims just came in." Fox just grunts, closing his eye. Colt settles down next to him, texting Gree and Neyo an update before opening his latest ebook.

Colt snaps back to awareness when Fox jerks and swears profusely.

"Fox?" Colt’s worry spikes.  _ Did his injuries get worse? _

“Ice melted. Bag leaked,” Fox wheezes between swears, from where he's curled around his wrist. "The cold surprised me." Colt winces in sympathy. After a moment, Fox straightens again. Wordlessly, Colt removes the completely melted bag of ice, getting up to throw it away.

He sits back down, about to continue reading when he notices Fox slowly listing towards him.

"Here, lean on me," Colt says, gently pulling Fox down to rest against his shoulder. He cards his fingers through Fox’s hair, pleased to see some of the tension leave his frame. Satisfied his brother is as relaxed as possible, Colt goes back to reading.

Five hours later, they finally call Fox’s name. Colt gently shakes Fox out of his light doze, helping him into the wheelchair the nurse wheels over.

Once in the examination room, the nurse takes Fox’s vitals and asks him about his injuries, noting everything down.

“A doctor should be with you shortly. Thank you for waiting patiently.”

Colt moves to stand at Fox’s side after the nurse leaves, letting his exhausted brother slump into his side. “Almost done,” he murmurs gently, stroking Fox’s hair.

The doctor bustles in scant minutes later. She checks Fox’s range of motion and his pupils, before sending him for an x-ray. It confirms what they all thought: Fox’s wrist is broken.

The doctor outfits him with a red cast and a prescription for extra-strength ibuprofen.

Six hours after they arrived, they finally leave the ER. Fox is easy to maneuver thanks to the dose of painkillers. 

The trip home is a breeze; at 1am there’s hardly any traffic.

The living room lights greet them as they pull into the driveway; Colt is unsurprised his brothers stayed up to wait for them. Neyo stands framed in the garage doorway as Colt cajoles a sleepy Fox out of the car. He hurries down the steps to take Fox’s other side, a fact Colt is immensely grateful for as Fox decides Colt makes a nice pillow and almost overbalances them both.

Together they lead Fox inside and upstairs to his room, Gree hovering nervously the whole way. The roomba is nowhere to be seen.

“Is he gonna be okay?” He asks, wringing his hands. Colt pauses from where he’s tucking Fox in.

“He’s gonna be fine, Gree,” Colt reassures his youngest brother. His statement breaks the dam.

“I’m sorry!” Gree cries, tears welling up. “It’s my fault! You’re always telling me not to leave my stuff laying around and then I was arguing with Neyo and now Fox is hurt and —”

“Woah kiddo, breathe!” Colt pulls Gree into a hug, rubbing his back. Gree clenches his fists in Colt’s shirt, gasping breaths on the verge of sobs. “Shh, it’s alright. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Slowly, Gree calms down, breathing evening out. He sniffles, wiping his nose on Colt’s shirt.

“Brat,” Colt admonishes fondly, smile in his voice. He pulls back, gently tipping Gree’s face up. “It’s not your fault kiddo.” Silence. “Gree.”

“Did you do it on purpose?”

“What?” They both look to Fox.

“Did you push me down the stairs on purpose?” Fox repeats.

“No! Of course not!” Gree replies, horrified.

“Then it’s not your fault.” Fox’s eyes go to Neyo, lingering in the doorway. “Neither of you. It was an unfortunate accident, and we’ll learn from it. Right, Gree?”

“Absolutely!” Gree nods furiously. 

“Good. Now get out. Wanna sleep,” Fox says, voice slurring with exhaustion. Gree smiles, darting over to give Fox a hug.

“Love you, Fox,” he says quietly.

“Love you too, kiddo,” he returns equally quiet. He meets Neyo’s eyes over Gree’s shoulder, giving him a nod.

The brothers exit Fox’s room, Colt hanging back as he turns off the light.

“You know,” he starts innocently. “If you really want to teach him not to leave his stuff around, you could always tape some plastic silverware to the roomba once he fixes it. You know he’s not going to leave it in pieces.” 

Fox’s grin is dopey but wicked. Colt laughs and leaves him to sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos greatly appreciated. :)
> 
> **Permissions:** All my works, including this one, can be translated and podficced without first asking my express permission. I ask only that you credit me as the original author and provide a link back to the original work. For anything else, please ask first. Thanks.


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